Assault Weapons Ban Comes to an End

I really had no opinion about the AWB when it happened. Certainly it must be a good idea, I thought. Why would anyone need a weapon like that? Of course, I was also pro-Brady Bill, too. I was an official Democrat voting, pro-choice liberal. Yes, it is true. But, I have seen the light. I still straddle many fences, but I am one of the few people left on either side of politics that can be persuaded to change my opinions if you give me good information and support your beliefs with facts and statistics that I think make sense.

I was one of those people who thought the Second Amendment was sort of like the Old Testament is to many people. - OUTDATED. Those were good laws back then, but not today, I believed.

Then, everything changed on Dec. 10, 1994. My then-husband (the Uzz you see on here alot) was also a liberal like me. We were greeting family and happily anticipating baptizing the Pickle on Dec. 11. Then, we started getting threatening phone messages from his psycho brother-in-law. Uzz's sister left him and thought coming to the baptism would be a good way to get away from him while also sharing in our joy, but Psycho didn't like that. He told us that he hoped we were "right with the Lord" because he didn't want to think we'd go to hell after he killed us. We called the police and their solution was to leave our home and seek shelter elsewhere. Thanks, that is a relief to know that you're there to protect us.

So, Uzz - who hated guns - went to a friend of his whom was known to have a few. And, throughout the baptism and reception, Uzz was packing heat illegally. What else was he supposed to do? He wanted to protect his family and the police weren't going to be there with us. I'm sure they'd respond to the 911 call to clean up the blood and investigate.

After my divorce, I dated a few soldiers - men accustomed to handling firearms - before I met Army of Dad. He influenced me in many ways. He was a cop for a short time and knows how that system works. When he bought his first gun during the police academy, I really hated having it in the house. I worried that Pickle would find it and do something stupid. So, we taught him gun safety. What do you do if you find a gun? Don't touch it and go tell an adult. It took a bit before he learned it by heart, but he did learn it. He was able to touch the gun and feel it, so it wasn't like a forbidden fruit just calling him. We tested him a few times, too, (with no bullets in the gun) and he failed before he finally figured it out.

Now, Army of Dad is a CHL (concealed handgun license) holder and carries when he legally can - some bars, etc, where you can't have it. But, I feel safer when he has it and is with me. I think about the Luby's incident back in Killeen (where I met Army of Dad - we actually ate at that Luby's a few times - it is closed now). I think about the Wedgwood Baptist Church shooting about four or five years ago. Had an armed person been there, how differently that might have turned out. I think about a lot of things and I'm glad AoD is armed. He has taught me how to load and shoot a shotgun and I'm glad. I'd like to see some fucker try a home invasion on my house. I chased off my neighbor's ex-husband one night with my shotgun. Scared the shit out of her daughter, but by God, he was backing out of the driveway and saw me and the trusty ol' weapon and his tires spun a little quicker.

Still, I really had no opinion on the AWB. But, AoD changed some of my opinions in that matter. He has an SAR-1, an AK-47 clone. Seemed like overkill to me, but if it makes him happy, who cares? He has fun going out into the boonies and shooting targets with it, if nothing else.

Then, last night I had a dream as I drifted off to sleep thinking about what I would blog about the AWB. I dreamed that I was at some carnival type atmosphere and this King Kong-type monster was busting through and injuring people. I was unarmed, drinking iced tea out of an old mason jar. I threw it at the monster's head, but all I did was piss it off further. I kept wondering in my dream why no one shot it, but no one was armed. Then, as I was gathering my children and trying to get them to safety, I found blood on the streets in every direction, so I went towards this large building to seek refuge. As I get in there, I realize the monster is getting bigger and no one can stop it. It is killing people everywhere. More blood, more fear. No weapons anywhere. So, I find an old woman and a priest and ask them to protect my children. I instruct my oldest to watch out for them and I leave. I go home and find AoD's SAR-1 and then I hunted down this monster and killed him. I remember feeling like Rambo. I pumped this creature full of bullets and then shot him while he was down for good measure. He wasn't going to get up and kill another person. When I woke up, it was like having an epiphany. I think it is obvious what the dream means to me - sometimes you have to have the firepower to make peace.

Army of Dad had a few things to say about the AWB:
I have an SAR-1. It's an AK-47 clone. It functions similar to the original. It is semi-automatic only (one shot per trigger pull). If someone wants a reason why I have it, well it's no one's fucking business. If I had to give a reason, I'd say because it is fun to shoot and I intend to use it for hunting. It was legally purchased during the ban, yet it has no differences in its firepower and function from the banned weapons.

Our founding fathers saw that government will, if left to its own devices, become a tyrant. It is its nature. The Second Amendment is our fail safe. That is why we have the republic we do. That is why we have never, even in our darkest hours, succumbed and been enslaved. Many estimates show there to be 80 million gun owners in the US. No government, no military could ever hope to defeat a well armed populace. Look at the nations who have known tyranny. Hitler banned the private ownership of firearms. Does anyone really think they could have led 6 million Jews to the death camps if 1 out of 6 had guns!? Ditto the Russians, Chinese, Spanish, Italians, Cambodians, etc…

The Second Amendment guarantees my God given right to defend myself with an effective tool. Shit, golf clubs are involved in more crimes than so called assault weapons. Maybe we should outlaw cars in case someone tries to run from the police or drinks too much before driving … oh, but wait the Ford isn't inherently evil, well neither is a gun, any gun, no matter how "scary" it looks - even if it is a bonafide machine gun: more than one round fired per trigger pull. They are fun to shoot and I see no reason I should be denied ownership of a tool I got to use while in the military.

Now if you will excuse me I think I feel the need to look for some more high capacity magazines, should be a bit cheaper nowadays…
Army of Dad

Some links today about the end of the Assault Weapons Ban
http://www.ar15.com/
http://www.kimdutoit.com/dr/weblog.php?id=P4231
http://bloodletting.blog-city.com/read/816981.htm
http://www.nra.org/Article.aspx?id=886

I tried to put shots up here of AoD with his shotgun and our oldest shooting, but the pics are too big and I'm too IT-challenged to figure out how to resize them. Maybe in the coming days someone can help my non-technical ass figure it out and I'll post them.